402 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



alone. Five hundred years later, however, as we learn from 

 Ai'rian, coursing with Grej^hounds had come in vogue, and this 

 author has left us a very remarkable treatise on coursing, which 

 presents a vivid picture not only of the waj"^ in which this branch 

 of hunting was anciently pursued by the Greeks, but also of the 

 peculiarities which were considered by them to be " good points" 

 in a dog, and their methods of feeding, training, and general 

 management. 



Among the Romans dogs were divided into three classes: — 



(1) Canes villatici, House-dogs; 



(2) „ pastorales, Shepherd-dogs ; 



(3) „ venatici, Sporting-dogs ; 



and in the last division they recognised three distinct breeds, 

 which they termed — 



(a) pugnaces, pugnacious dogs ; 



(b) nare sagaces, dogs running by scent ; 



(c) pedibus celeres, swift dogs running by sight. 



This threefold division of the Canes venatici (or dogs used for 

 the chase) into pugnaces, sagaces, and celeres may be traced more 

 or less clearly in the writings of many classic authors, as Gratius, 

 Seneca, Artemidorus, Oppian, Claudian, and Julian Firmicus ; 

 although in Xenophon and the earlier Greek writers we only find 

 mention of the two first- named, for the Greyhound of that period 

 was unknown to them. 



Witli regard to the original geographical distribution of these 

 three varieties, the prevalent opinion of continental writers who 

 have devoted their attention to tlie Cynegetica of Greece and Rome 

 is that the pugnaces came from Asia, the sagaces from Greece, and 

 the celeres from Gaul. 



The Celtic or Gallic hound does not appear to have been 

 introduced generally into the more southern parts of Europe till 

 after the dissolution of the Commonwealth of Rome. It is first 

 mentioned by Ovid, and its style of hunting the liare is so well 

 described by him that it must have been derived from actual 

 experience in the field rather than hearsay ; wliich circumstance 

 alone seems to have given it admission into the Cynegeticon of 

 Gratius, Ovid's contemporary. 



The dogs used by the early Britons for the protection of their 

 flocks and for the chase appear to have been of great importance 

 with them. Three varieties were cultivated with considerable 



